Abstract
Epidemiological research, and clinical research just the same, is science in the original and still principal meaning of the word, namely that for which the term used to be ‘natural philosophy’ or ‘natural history’ (Gr. historia, ‘inquiry’). Now the term generally is natural science – or, simply, science. This is the meaning of ‘science’ here. (‘Science’ entered the English language in the 19th century.)
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsReferences
McCall RJ. Basic Logic. Second edition. New York: Barnes & Noble, Inc., 1952; p. 1 ff.
Porta M (Editor), Greenland S, Last JM (Associate Editors). A Dictionary of Epidemiology. Fifth edition. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008.
Miettinen OS. Up from Clinical Epidemiology & EBM. Dordrecht: Springer, 2011.
Sargent R-M. Analysis and synthesis. In: Heilbron JL (Editor). The Oxford Companion to the History of Modern Science. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003.
Kant I. Critique of Pure Reason (translated by Meiklejohn JMD). Amherst (NY): Prometheus Books, 1990; p. 7.
Sargent R-M. Causality. In: Heilbron JL (Editor in Chief). The Oxford Companion to the History of Modern Science. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003.
Miettinen OS. Screening for a cancer: the pundits at a crossroads. Eur J Epidemiology; in press.
Rosenberg A. Philosophy of Science. A Contemporary Introduction. Second edition. New York: Routledge, 2000; pp. 22, 89.
Laudan R. Observation and experiment. In: Heilbron JL (Editor). The Oxford Companion to the History of Modern Science. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003.
Olesko K. Precision and accuracy. In: Heilbron JL (Editor). The Oxford Companion to the History of Modern Science. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003.
Laudan R. Proof. In: Heilbron JL (Editor in Chief). The Oxford Companion to the History of Modern Science. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003.
von Mises L. Human Action. A Treatise in Economics. Third, revised edition. Chicago: Contemporary Books, Inc., 1966; p. 10.
Pielke RA. The Honest Broker. Making Sense of Science in Policy and Politics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007; p. v (in a quote from Lord May).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2011 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Miettinen, O.S. (2011). Terms and Concepts of Science. In: Epidemiological Research: Terms and Concepts. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-1171-6_2
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-1171-6_2
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-007-1170-9
Online ISBN: 978-94-007-1171-6
eBook Packages: Biomedical and Life SciencesBiomedical and Life Sciences (R0)